#3276. Churchill の We Shall Fight on the Beaches 演説[popular_passage][lexicology][lexical_stratification]

　先日，『ウィンストン・チャーチル／ヒトラーから世界を救った男』（原題 Darkest Hour）を観に行った．アカデミー賞で Gary Oldman が主演男優賞を獲得し，日本人の辻一弘氏がメイクアップ賞を初受賞した．ダンケルクの戦いを制することになるイギリス宰相 Winston Churchill の，対ドイツ戦線の苦悩を綴った作品である．詳細は省くが，映画ではかの有名な We Shall Fight on the Beaches の演説のシーンが再現される．1940年6月4日の下院における演説である．以下に，演説の最後の部分を転載しよう（典拠はこちら）．映画ではなく本物の音源は，こちらなどから YouTube で視聴できる．

I have, myself, full confidence that if all do their duty, if nothing is neglected, and if the best arrangements are made, as they are being made, we shall prove ourselves once again able to defend our Island home, to ride out the storm of war, and to outlive the menace of tyranny, if necessary for years, if necessary alone. At any rate, that is what we are going to try to do. That is the resolve of His Majesty's Government --- every man of them. That is the will of Parliament and the nation. The British Empire and the French Republic, linked together in their cause and in their need, will defend to the death their native soil, aiding each other like good comrades to the utmost of their strength. Even though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous States have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of Nazi rule, we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God's good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.

　この演説を英語語彙（史）の観点からみると，クライマックスの we shall fight on the beaches のくだりで用いられている語彙が概ね英語本来語であることが，寺澤盾先生の『英語の歴史』 (pp. 48--50) で触れられている．この箇所にフランス語やラテン語由来の語彙が豊富に織り交ぜられていたら，イギリス国民にさほど受けなかったかもしれない．歴史を変えたかもしれない（？）本来語使用というわけだ．
　英語語彙の種類と階層性については，「#334. 英語語彙の三層構造」 ([2010-03-27-1]) や「#2977. 連載第6回「なぜ英語語彙に3層構造があるのか？ --- ルネサンス期のラテン語かぶれとインク壺語論争」」 ([2017-06-21-1]) の記事ほか，lexical_stratification の諸記事を参照．

　・ 寺澤 盾　『英語の歴史』　中央公論新社〈中公新書〉，2008年.

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